‘Leave him alone!’: Labor MP defends PM’s $4.3 million mansion splurge

Labor frontbencher Chris Bowen has urged Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s critics to “leave him alone” over his $4.3 million mansion splurge.

News of the Prime Minister’s real estate moves has prompted questions over whether he’s planning to retire.

Some MPs have even been asked if Mr Albanese should have “workshopped the optics [of the purchase] with his colleagues”.

It was a suggestion that Labor frontbencher Chris Bowen dismissed as silly.

“I don’t go and talk to the Prime Minister about, you know, my finances,” Mr Bowen told ABC’s AM.

“He doesn’t come and talk to me about his, nor should he.

“If he had, I would have said, mate, you do what you think is necessary for your family. With respect, he’s the Prime Minister. He’s also an Australian citizen, and I think the average Australian says, fair enough, leave him alone.”

Mr Bowen said “most average Australians say, fair enough”.

“We should be judged on our policies,” he said.

Labor MP Julian Hill said that Anthony Albanese was “exactly the guy who I met 28 years ago”.

“He understands where he came from – yes, he grew up poor in council housing,” Mr Hill told Sky News.

“As he said, he’s been on a good wicket. He’s devoted his life to public service.

“He’s been frugal and he’s in a new relationship and has bought a house with his fiancee in the area of the coast, northern New South Wales, where three generations of her family grew up.”

The Prime Minister has insisted he still knows what it’s like to live on struggle street despite plonking down $4.3 million clifftop mansion on the NSW Central Coast.

But Mr Albanese has insisted he’s not planning for retirement amid speculation he plans to rent out the property for $2500 a week.

A savvy property investor, Mr Albanese still owns a home in Marrickville and is planning to offload an investment rental in Sydney.

The Prime Minister bought the property with his bride to be Jodi Haydon who has family who live in the area.

The Copacabana property features timber lined cathedral ceilings and a centralised entertaining area along with open plan living and dining space, while downstairs there’s a guest room and an additional north-facing entertaining area.

While conceding he is “much better off”, Mr Albanese told reporters on Tuesday that he knows “what it’s like to struggle”.

“I have, of course, I am much better off – as a Prime Minister, I earn a good income,” he said. “I understand that. I understand that I’ve been fortunate.

“But I also know what it’s like to struggle. My mum lived in the public housing that she was born in for all of her 65 years. And I know what it’s like, which is why I want to help all Australians into a home, whether it be public homes, or private rentals, or home ownership.”

Mr Albanese insisted he was not planning for retirement any time soon and wanted to stay “in my current job for a very long period of time”.

Taking advantage of falling property prices as a result of rising interest rates, Mr Albanese snapped up the architecturally-designed house with uninterrupted ocean and Sydney skyline views in a private sale last month.

The four bedroom house on nearly 800 sqm last sold in November 2021 for $4.65m which means the current owners sold at a loss.

Landlord Anthony Albanese is also to have the last laugh when he sells his Dulwich Hill rental because he’s likely to score a $1 million profit after buying the home just under a decade ago.

The Prime Minister’s tenant Jim Flanagan, 45, accused the Labor leader of talking the talk but not walking the walk on the housing crisis by evicting him from the rental.

Mr Albanese said the decision was triggered in part by his wedding to Jodie Haydon.

Mr Albanese purchased the investment rental property for $1.175 million in 2015. It’s now estimated to be worth between $1,960,000 and $2,217,00 million, according to CoreLogic.

That means Mr Albanese is set to cash in with a $2 million sale if he can evict Mr Flanagan from the property.

According to new financial records lodged with parliament, Mr Albanese owns a $2.5 million Marrickville house and previously owned a $600,000 Canberra apartment mortgage-free.

When you include his two taxpayer funded homes – the Lodge in Canberra where he is based and Kirribilli in Sydney – he now has access to five residential homes.

Mr Albanese also scored a huge pay bump after the election and now earns over $550,000 – before allowances.